Twice NIU has gone into a football game this season and been upset. Both times, the Huskies’ strength became their weakness. And in the end, the lack of a running game spelled defeat. If NIU’s rushing attack was a train, it was derailed in the games...

Right about now would constitute college football’s do-or-die time. The leaves are changing, the pumpkins are carved and teams are now figuring out if they’ve got the drive and will power to win it all. And the best part is there are eight different...

After completing season No. 5 of franchise mode in Madden 2006, calling a play in a real football game is easy, right? Well for all the armchair quarterbacks out there, it's not. On actual turf, more coordination and execution is involved than most people...

While NIU's running backs get the glory, Brian Van Acker does the dirty work. An All-MAC center for the past two seasons, Van Acker has been the heart of the Huskies offensive line. That's why, before the season, his teammates voted him one of three team...

Look at this year’s Huskie football team on paper and you’ll shake your head in dismay. Coming into this season with the top-ranked recruiting class in the MAC, the returning MAC rushing champ, a stellar offensive line and two prime receivers with...

This is the scene as a cross-country runner reaches the finish line. Exasperated, exhausted, crying, bent over, out of breath. Muscles so dense with starch runners can’t even bend over to untie their shoes. The cool fall air burns as they breath it...

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. The NIU football team probably understands this phrase a lot better after Saturday’s debacle against Ball State. Looking back, it was a trap game waiting to happen. All the predictions and conventional...

The Huskies should have been licking their chops waiting for this one. The NIU football team was averaging 233 rushing yards per game coming into Saturday’s game with Ball State at Huskie Stadium, and the Cardinals were allowing 256 on the ground. The...

Joe Novak said he had a bad feeling coming into Saturday’s game. He knew Ball State played better than its record. He also felt like his team was not ready to play. Unfortunately for Novak, the NIU football team proved its coach right with a 31-17 defeat...

Perhaps NIU football coach Joe Novak should be thanking the schedule makers right about now. For the second straight week, his injury-depleted backfield runs into a struggling squad that gives up a ton of points and even more rush yards. And this time,...

Ball State might carry a 1-6 record, but if last season was any indication coach Joe Novak and the NIU football team won’t be taking it lightly. Last season the Huskies rolled into Muncie, Ind. boasting a five-game winning streak and were expected to...

Doug Martin needs a hug. There he sat during Saturday’s press conference; his face pale, his hat still dripping, his team having just lost its fifth in a row. Kent State’s coach looked like he needed a bowl of hot soup and a warm shower. Instead,...